Tag-Archive for » The War of Art «

Join Poster Boy and his collective for book release parties in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and London. Proceeds from the events will be donated to K.A.R.A.T.E. or Kids Are Rallying Against the Empire, a group that supports street artists and graffiti artists who are in trouble with the law.

We’ve been following Poster Boy’s work since day one. Seeing his work in the subway was a major reason we felt the need to create this blog. When we heard about his book deal we were very excited—so excited, in fact, that we unknowingly announced the book before the publisher, Mark Batty. They were kind enough to send us an advance copy to talk about on Subway Art Blog.

The War of Art begins with a quote from Enter the Dragon: “The enemy only has images and illusions behind which he hides his true motives. Destroy the image and you break the enemy.”

Poster Boy wastes no time in acknowledging that the idea of a retrospective book for an artist that has been active for such a short time is absurd. He is also very forward about pointing out that this book is hypocritical because it contradicts the anti-authorship, anti-copyright, anti-consumerist ideas behind his work. He addresses all of this in the introduction: “this book is a part of the supposed medium rather than a retrospective on an artist that has been active for a meager two years.”

The book is divided into three sections; the first, called “Works on Vinyl,” is a collection of the works that made him famous: advertising alterations in the subway and beyond. It includes some work that appears on his flickr account but also a fair amount that does not. The original ads and the altered ads are juxtaposed on facing pages. This was an essential touch, because it fully illustrates the vast creativity that goes into his on-site mashup work.

A few of our favorites from this section include: a Pepsi ad that is altered to say “Corn Syrp” and a Snickers ad altered to say “Fuck the Post, Read Chompsky.” When the alterations are political, they are very strong; when they are lighthearted, they are very funny. They are also visually seamless. They remind you why he became so infamous doing this.

Poster Boy's tribute to Space Invader

Just when the vinyl section gets warmed up, it seems to end. The second section of the book is “Abetments,” a portion dedicated to collaborations with and tributes to other artists. Some of the street artists Poster Boy tips his hat to include: Space Invader, Decapitator, Princess Hijab, Katsu, Booker and Keith Haring. A number of the artist’s many collaborations with Aakash Nihalani also appear in this section.

The last portion of the book is reserved for Poster Boy’s exhibition work. Large scale pieces from shows at Art Basel, the Jajo Gallery and Eastern District are featured in this section. While it is interesting to see this side of PB’s work, it seems a bit out of place. The inclusion of this work makes the book feel closer to the retrospective it says it is not.

In general, this book is an effective showcase of the ephemeral work of one of the most interesting, creative artists we have covered on Subway Art Blog. Its main downfall is not including more of his work. There is certainly troves more of it on flickr that could have been used. Alas, this must be another side effect of putting a book out so early in one’s artistic career.

The War of Art will be available in August on Amazon or a on bookshelf in a commercial space near you.

According to an automated e-mail from the NYC Department of Corrections, Poster Boy is “no longer in custody.” It’s not yet completely clear what this means, but Gothamist reported on Tuesday about the possibility of Matyjewicz being released on bail and Mark Batty, Poster Boy’s book publisher, had said on Monday that he would be out within days.

Here is the e-mail:

Since his arrest, a “Free Poster Boy” movement has been started. A Facebook group was created for the cause and attracted over 1,400 members as of Thursday night.

A seemingly unrelated group of Poster Boy supporters has utilized Banksy’s latest work to get their message out. Several of Banksy’s new NYC pieces had been tagged to say “FREE HENRY! -POSTER BOY.” Gothamist has compiled a gallery of all the defaced defacements. These were presumably added by other members of the Poster Boy movement. Ironically, Poster Boy actually appears in the opening sequence of Banksy’s recent documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop.

We are still waiting on an official statement from Poster Boy’s camp on his release.

In his first new advertising mashup flickr post since April 2009, Poster Boy targets the subway fare. The work is probably not current considering there are no Harry Potter ads in circulation right now, but is an older work posted for the first time to draw attention to a petition to save student MetroCards which he linked to in the image’s caption. We encourage you to sign it and help this cause!

In other Poster Boy-related news, it seems his upcoming book, The War of Art, will be released later than originally expected. The publisher’s website sets the release as May 2010, although Amazon.com still has the date as March 23rd. The book is expected to include many of his works which were completed after he stopped posting on flickr.

The next big subway art book is on its way out. Poster Boy: The War of Art is a collection of Poster Boy’s best works. There aren’t too many details available yet, but the following description is floating around:

His cut and slash mash-ups of subway platform billboards only exist in New York City, but Poster Boy’s artful and funny appropriations of advertising have gotten him attention the world over. The New York Times dubbed him an “anti-consumerist Zorro with a razor blade, a sense of humor and a talent for collage”; the Guardian UK said of his work, it “is witty, web-savvy and economical . . . and the only materials it requires are chutzpah, imagination and a 50 cent blade.”

Poster Boy tweaks corporate copy, replacing it with incisive and playful puns and turns of phrase rich with innuendo and political punch. Beautiful models turn ghastly and iconic spokespeople become the mouthpieces for Poster Boy’s ideas. Poster Boy: The War of Art collects his best work yet.

The book is set for release on March 2nd, 2010, but you can preorder it on Amazon. I did as soon as I found out about it. Check back in March for a review!